China

Performing arts

The oldest art forms in China are music and dance. A 5,000-year-old pottery bowl from Qinghai province is painted with a ring of 15 dancers adorned in headdresses and sashes and stepping in unison. Music played an important role in early Chinese ritual and statecraft. Bronze bells were instruments of investiture and reward. A bronze bell set from a tomb in the ancient state of Zeng in Hubei province, interred about 430 bce, contains 64 bells, each of which produces two distinct, tuned strike notes. More than 120 instruments were unearthed from the same tomb, including stringed zithers, mouth organs, flutes, drums, and stone chimes. Music and related rituals helped to provide a structure for activities in the courts of rulers at all levels in the feudal hierarchy.

A jingxi (Peking opera) troupe performing a scene from The Real and the Fake Sun Wukong.© Wu Gang/Liaison International

Theatre, once the most important popular art form in China, remains important for some. However, it has been eclipsed in popularity by television dramas, especially serials. Chinese theatre originated in early religious dances, performed at festivals to exorcise demons, reenact important historical events, or prepare for harvest, hunting, or warfare. Urban storytelling and theatrical genres are well documented from the Song dynasty but are known to have matured during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368). Yuan dramas—or operas, as they are more accurately called—consisted of virtuoso song and dance organized around plots on historical or contemporary themes. The operas were performed in special theatres, with elegant costumes and decorated stages. From Yuan drama, later forms developed, including contemporary jingxi (Peking opera) and other regional forms, which feature song and dance, elaborate costumes and props, and displays of martial arts and acrobatics.

jingxiJingxi troupe performing “The Carp Fairy of the Green Pond” in Beijing, 2005.© Diego Azubel—EPA/REX/Shutterstock.com